


Sweet dreams

by RiTheBiGuy_RileyTMR



Category: The Good Doctor (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-16 11:00:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 15,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28955352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiTheBiGuy_RileyTMR/pseuds/RiTheBiGuy_RileyTMR
Summary: Some of the surgeons fly to Florida for a convention, this is what happened on the plane journey there.
Relationships: Claire Browne/Neil Melendez
Comments: 69
Kudos: 51





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I hope spamming the Claire Brown/ Neil Melendez tag makes up for the lack of posting to my alphabet series (Or in general) 😅. This is just a short bit of fluff that I saw a prompt for on tumblr. I am also looking for more prompts so if you have an ideas please leave a comment!

“Ok residents, we couldn’t get seats that were all together on the plane so Park, you’re with me, Reznick you’re with Andrews, Murphy you’re with Glassman and Brown you’re with Melendez,” Lim said to the group.

“Why can’t we pick who we sit with?” Alex asked.

“Yeah, it’s not like we’re school children on some field trip,” Morgan added.

“Because, Dr’s Park and Reznick, you are representing the hospital and I don’t trust you all to behave without an adult present,” Audrey said casually, “now pick up your bags and follow me,” the attending’s all smirked at each other while the residents sulked. 

They got on the plane and found their seats, Shaun immediately started talking to Aaron about a surgical procedure he got to witness the day before. Audrey and Alex were talking about Kellan. Morgan had put headphones in and was listening to music while Marcus got his neck pillow out and prepared for a nap. Claire and Neil had seats right at the back of the plane, Claire took the window seat and sat there looking at the airport. The flight attendants went through the safety procedures and the plane took off. 

Claire and Neil were sat in silence for the first 10 minutes, Neil reading a book and Claire staring out the window, before Neil spoke.

“Everything okay?” He asked. Claire turned to look at him, she looked exhausted.

“Yeah, just didn’t sleep too well last night,” she replied. She sighed before continuing, “actually haven’t been sleeping well all week,” Neil closed his book and turned slightly in his chair so he could face her.

“Want to talk about it?” He asked. Claire looked back out the window for a moment before turning back and facing her mentor.

“I can’t stop thinking about that patient last week, Hernandez,” Claire answered.

“The one who died of a stroke after his surgery?” Neil asked. He’d heard about the case from Lim, the patient had come into the ER after falling off a ladder, he’d had surgery but a lot of staff had been off sick with the flu so some patients weren’t being checked on enough post surgery, the patient ended up with a blood clot which eventually led to a stroke, Claire was called when the patient started to flatline but wasn’t able to save him.

“Yeah that one,” Claire muttered sadly.

“You know that wasn’t your fault,” Neil said, “the hospital was understaffed that day, you couldn’t be everywhere at once.”

“But if I’d gone and quickly checked on him Between patients I could have seen something was wrong,” Claire argued before turning back to look out the window. 

“Claire, look at me,” Neil said, grabbing her hands, she turned and looked up at him, “it wasn’t your fault, we could all say ‘what if I did this’ or ‘what if I did that’ but we didn’t, his death was not on you, he seemed stable and there were patients with more pressing issues that needed your attention, that’s not your fault,” his eyes were intense and the way he was looking at Claire made her believe every word he was saying. She looked down at their hands and squeezed his slightly.

“Thank you,” she said and he smiled at her, he let go of her hands and turned back to face the front of the plane.

“If you haven’t been sleeping though I’d suggest trying to get some sleep on this flight, because I can imagine Dr’s Reznick and Park will trying to convince you and Murphy to go to some sort of club tonight,” Neil chuckled, Claire let out a small laugh.

“I think you might be right,” she responded, “but planes aren’t exactly the comfiest places to sleep.”

“Well if you’d like you can lean on me,” Neil said, Claire looked up at him to see if he was serious, “none of the others are around so you don’t have to worry about gossip and I’ll just be reading my book anyway so you won’t be disturbing me,” Claire smiles and nodded slightly before resting her head on his shoulder. Within minutes she was breathing softly and Neil could tell she was asleep, he smiled warmly before opening his book. They stayed like this for the rest of the flight and Neil made sure he made a minimal amount of movement so he didn’t disturb his sleeping resident.


	2. Chapter 2

“And I’m out,” Neil said, throwing his cards down on the table as Marcus grabbed the pile of money in the middle.

“I can lend you a dollar if you want to try to win your money back?” Audrey said to him, a smug look on her face as she showed off the pile of dollar bills next to her.

“Thanks but I think I’ll just head to bed,” Neil replied.

“I think I’ll be leaving soon as well with how quickly these two are taking my money,” Aaron grumbled, Audrey and Marcus grinned at each other. Neil laughed before standing up.

“I’ll see you all tomorrow,” he said before heading out the door.

“My card won’t work!” He heard Shaun say loudly, he turned and saw the younger surgeon trying to swipe the lock on the door with his credit card. He chuckled as he saw Alex stumble over to him from where he was unlocking his own room.

“Maybe if you use your key card it would help,” Alex said, Shaun looked at him blankly before taking his wallet out of his pocket, he put his credit card back and pulled out the key card, holding it up to the scanner, it beeped and he opened the door.

“It worked,” he said, a look of astonishment on his face, he turned to face Alex, “you’re a genius.”

“I know,” Alex replied, turning around and stumbling over to his room. Neil laughed as Shaun practically fell into his room and headed over to his room. He heard the elevator ding and saw Morgan stumble out, Claire not too far behind. She grabbed the blonde and put her arm over her shoulders.

“Let’s get you to your room,” she said and Morgan nodded.

“Dr Melendez!” Morgan called loudly, causing Claire to wince at the noise in her ear, “we’re you just coming out of Dr Lim’s room?” She asked, a suggestive tone in her voice.

“I was,” Neil admitted, “we were playing poker with Dr Andrews and Dr Glassman.”

“Well that’s boring, I thought there was going to be some hot gossip,” Morgan sighed.

“Sorry to disappoint,” the older man replied.

“Remind me to never go clubbing with this lot again,” Claire muttered as she walked past him to get Morgan into her room.

“That bad?” He asked.

“We had fun!” Morgan insisted, “Claire would agree if she had more than two drinks!”

“I felt like at least one of us needed to have a clear head,” Claire shot back and Neil chuckled.

“Well I’m glad you all had a good night, I’m going to bed now, I’ll see you guys in the morning,” he said to the two.

“Good night Dr Melendez!” Morgan said.

“Good night Dr Reznick,” he chuckled, “good night Dr Browne,” Claire gave him a small smile.

“Good night,” she replied, helping Morgan unlock the door to her room before opening it and dragging her in. Neil walked into his room and locked the door, he changed into his pyjamas and plugged his phone in to charge before laying on his bed and turning on his TV. He watched it for about half an hour before turning it off. He was about to shut his eyes to sleep when he heard someone walking around in the room next to his, he listened and realised the person was pacing, he tried to think about who his room was next to and realised it was Claire’s room. He stood up and walked over to where his phone was charging and sent her a text.

‘You okay?’ 

‘Yeah I’m fine,’ the reply came back quickly.

‘Really? Because I can hear you pacing from my room,’ the pacing stopped suddenly and he sighed as he realised she wasn’t going to message him back. He grabbed his key card and headed out of his room, he knocked on the door next to his and waited as he heard Claire walk over and unlock the door. 

“Sorry if my pacing was keeping you awake,” she said. 

“It wasn’t,” he told her, “are you okay?” He asked again. She breathed out heavily.

“Yeah, I just can’t sleep,” she admitted.

“Want to talk?”She nodded and let him in, closing the door behind him, “still thinking about your patient?” 

“Yeah,” she sighed, “every time I close my eyes I see his wife’s face, the way she was crying after I told her that he was dead,” she sat down on the edge of her bed and Neil went to sit next to her. 

“It’s going to be hard, when you lose a patient who should have lived, it hits you hard, you never forget it,” he looked over to her, “but you’re one of the strongest people I know,” she looked at him and smiled, “you’re going to get through this and I’m always here if you ever need to talk.” 

“Thank you,” Claire replied, “how do you always know the right thing to say?” Neil chuckled. 

“It’s a gift,” he joked and Claire laughed slightly, “try to get some sleep,” he said standing up, he put a hand on her shoulder, “you’ve got a busy day tomorrow and we need at least one resident who’s in a good state,” Claire smiled and looked down at her hands before looking up at him. 

“I’ll try,” she smiled, “good night, and thank you, again.”

“Any time,” he replied, “goodnight,” he left her room and headed back to his, he listened to hear if she started pacing again but when he didn’t hear anything he walked over to his bed and fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Neil, Audrey, Aaron, Marcus and Claire were sat down at their table for breakfast when the other residents joined them, they all looked tired and their eyes were red. They flopped down onto the remaining chairs around the table and the other doctors all smirked.

”Good morning residents!” Audrey greeted them, probably louder than was necessary. They all groaned at her, Morgan with her head in her arms on the top of the table, Park rubbing his face and yawning and Shaun staring off into the distance.

”Looks like Dr Browne is the only one who can handle her liquor,” Marcus joked.

”She hardly drank anything,” Morgan mumbled.

”Looking at the state of you three I’m glad I didn’t,” Claire laughed. Morgan moved her hand so that she could hold up her middle finger to the smaller woman, causing Claire to laugh harder.   
  


“I feel awful,” Shaun said and the attendings all chuckled.

”Eat something, it might make you feel better,” Aaron suggested. Shaun stood up and headed over to where they were serving breakfast, Morgan and Alex following him there.

”I remember the days when that was us,” Audrey laughed, nudging Neil.

”Only difference is I could hold my liquor,” Neil added.

”Sure you could,” Audrey quipped.

”Oh please, the amount of times that you two would come in hungover as residents says otherwise,” Aaron said, “if I remember rightly Neil I had to send you home when you almost threw up on a patient.”

”Now this is a story I need to hear,” Marcus chuckled.

”I was a second year resident and I didn’t throw up on a patient, I managed to make it to the bin,” Neil defended himself.

”I’ll have to remember this the next time you complain about any of us coming in hungover,” Claire laughed and Neil gave her a look, she just smiled sweetly at him.

”They had pancakes!” They heard Shaun say as he placed a plate down on the table.

”Thats great Shaun,” Audrey said, trying not to laugh as Alex and Morgan dropped down onto their seats and started picking at their food.   
  


The surgeons finished their breakfasts before heading to where their conference would be. They sat down in the large hall as a doctor went on stage and began discussing a new medical procedure. Neil and Claire were sat together at the end of the row of chairs.

”Did you manage to get some sleep last night?” Neil asked her quietly.

”A bit,” Claire replied, “but it didn’t last long,” she admitted.

”Well after this is over you can go take a nap in your hotel room, the next speaker isn’t until 3 o’clock,” Neil told her.

”I probably wouldn’t be able to sleep, it’s not just the getting to sleep that’s the problem, it’s the nightmares that happen too,” she sighed.

”You never said anything about nightmares,” Neil commented, “you know you can talk to me about anything, I won’t judge you.”

”I know, I just struggle a bit to talk about things.”

”Have you spoken to you therapist about any of this?” He asked.

”Not yet, I had to cancel my last appointment with her because we had an emergency surgery,” she told him.

”Well as soon as we get back to San Jose you should see her,” Neil insisted.

”Yeah I know,” Claire muttered. They went back to listening to the man on stage but after a little while Neil turned to her and noticed she had fallen asleep, sitting in her chair. He smiled slightly, deciding to let her sleep for now.

As the presentation was coming to an end, Neil nudged Claire slightly and she woke up.

”Oh God, did I sleep through the whole thing?” She asked, Neil chuckled.

”Don’t worry, I wrote notes, you can read them later,” she smiled at him.

”Thanks, I’ll hold you to that offer,” she said. They stood up as everybody started leaving the room. Once they were outside Audrey rounded them all up.

”We’ll meet in the hotel lobby at 2:45, ready for the next session, until then go have some free time, grab some lunch, do whatever,” she told them.

”I’ll be going back to bed,” Morgan grumbled, Alex and Shaun nodded in agreement.

”Well, we’re going to see a show,” Marcus said as he and Aaron turned to leave.

”Nice, I might join you,” Audrey said.

”Be our guest,” Aaron smiled, “either of you two want to join us?” He asked Claire and Neil.

”I’m alright, I’m just going to read my book in my room,” Neil said.

”And I’ve got a paper that I need to finish writing,” Claire replied. Aaron nodded in understanding and the three of them left. The remaining doctors walked back to the floor of the hotel that they were staying on and went into their rooms.

Claire flopped onto her bed when she got in her room, she tried to shut her eyes to sleep but every time she tried she just saw the face of her previous patients wife, the distraught in her eyes and she could hear the gut wrenching scream of despair that she’d let out. Her eyes opened again and she turned over for the hundredth time, she gave up trying when she heard a knock on the door. She stood up and went to answer it, smiling when she saw Neil there holding a bag.

”I bought lunch,” he said, “I hope I didn’t wake you.”

”I’d need to be able to sleep for you to wake me up,” she replied, “but I do appreciate the lunch,” she stepped out of the way to let him in the room, he walked in and placed the bag on the table before lifting out a container and plastic fork and handing them to her, she thanked him before sitting down on one of the chairs, he sat down on the other one.

”So how frequently have you been having these nightmares?” He asked her.

”Almost every night,” she admitted.

”Do you want to talk about them?”

”Maybe,” she said, she put a forkful of food in her mouth and chewed before swallowing, she then spoke again, “I’d see him, laying on a hospital bed, the monitor would show him flatlining but the normal beep is louder and I can’t turn it off, it just keeps getting louder. He’d then start to decay right in front of me and the ringing would be replaced by his wife’s screams,” Neil listened intently as she explained, “she’d then come over to the bed and try to grab him but his body just turns to dust and she’s still screaming but it’s not a normal scream, it sounds demonic and it feels my ears and I try to cover them but it doesn’t make a difference and it feels like the walls are closing in. I usually wake up at this point,” she was looking down at her food as she spoke.

”that sounds horrible,” Neil said, “why didn’t you say anything sooner?”

”I didn’t want anyone to think less of me,” she admitted.

”I’d never think any less of you Claire,” Neil assured her.

”I know,” she smiled at him, “I need to work on talking through my problems with people.”

”So how much sleep did you actually get last night?” He questioned her.

”About three hours,” she replied.

”Why don’t you try to get some sleep now? I’ll grab my book and sit in here with you if you’d like?” Claire thought for a moment before nodding, Neil stood up and went to his room to grab the book that he was halfway through. He went back into her room where she was half sitting on her bed, the TV was on and he hoped it helped relax her so that she could sleep. He sat down on his chair again, leaning back in it and putting his feet up on the table, he opened his book and began reading. After a couple of chapters he looked over to Claire who was now fast asleep, he smiled at how peaceful she looked before reading his book again.

Neil was completely immersed in his book when he heard stirring from the bed, he looked over and noticed that Claire was moving around a lot in his sleep, breathing heavily. Her movements started to get more violent and he dropped his book onto the table and went over to her.

”Claire,” he shook her shoulder, trying to wake her, “Claire!” He said slightly louder, her eyes flung open and she grabbed his shirt and cling to him, she looked completely terrified and he wrapped his arms around her. She wasn’t completely in the room just yet but after a few moments her hands loosened and she was less tense, she was still breathing rapidly and tears were falling down her face, he held her tight until she let go of his shirt. He looked at her as she pulled away from him, wiping at her eyes, “you alright?” He asked, his hands were still on her arms and she could see the concern in his eyes.

”Yeah,” she breathed, “yeah, thanks,” she tried to control her breathing as he let go of her, “sorry you had to see that,” she blushed.

”You have nothing to be sorry for,” he replied, he stood up and went over to the table to grab one of the bottles of water that was sitting on there, he handed it to her and she reached for it with shaky hands, she tried to open it but didn’t seem to have control of her hands. Neil took the bottle off of her and opened it before handing it back.

”Thanks,” she said softly.

”Anytime,” he replied, he sat down on the bed next to her again, “there’s 15 minutes until we need to meet the others in the lobby, are you up for going to the next session or do you want me to make an excuse for you?”   
  


“I’ll be alright,” Claire told him, “I’m going to go splash some water on my face though and redo my hair though,” she chuckled, she stood up and headed to the bathroom. Neil also stood up and grabbed the empty containers off of the table before throwing them in the bin. He then grabbed his book as Claire walked back out of the bathroom, looking more composed.

”I’m going to take this back to my room,” he said, holding up the book, “then we can go down to the lobby.”

”Okay,” she replied, he left her room and walked into his, he placed the book on his bed before running his hands down his face, he desperately wanted to help Claire, but he wasn’t sure how he could do that.


	4. Chapter 4

Neil was woken from his sleep that night by his phone ringing on the table next to him. He felt around for it before answering and lifting it to his ear.

“Melendez,” he answered. Nobody spoke, he just heard rapid breathing, he sat up, bringing his phone down to look at the caller ID, “Claire?” He asked as he brought the phone up to his ear again, she let out a sob and he immediately stood up, picked up his key card and headed out his door. He knocked on the door to the room next to his and heard footsteps inside, Claire opened the door, tears running down her face. Neil ended the call and put his phone in his pocket before putting a hand on the younger surgeons shoulder and looking at her face, “another nightmare?” He asked, Claire nodded, “let’s go inside, we can talk if you’re up for it,” they headed into the room and sat on the edge of the bed. They were silent for a moment before Claire wiped the tears from her eyes and spoke.

“I’m sorry,” she said, “I shouldn’t have called you and woken you up because I had a bad dream.”

“Don’t be sorry,” he told her, “I’m glad you know that you can call me when you have a problem, no matter what time it is.”

“Thanks,” Claire muttered, “I didn’t want to be alone, I feel like the nightmares are worse when I’m not at home, I wake up not realising where I am and it just terrifies me even more.”

“Well, I’m here now and if you want I can stay and you can get some sleep without worrying,” Neil assured her.

“I don’t think I can go back to sleep,” she admitted, looking down at her shaking hands.

“Okay, then we’ll sit here and watch some movies on the TV or we could play some card games, I have a pack in my bag, or we can just talk if you want,” Neil said, Claire looked at him and saw the concern written on his face.

“TV sounds fine,” she smiled to him.

“Great,” he replied, he stood up and moved the pillows on her bed before grabbing more out of the closet, she looked at him with her eyebrow raised, “we can’t have a movie marathon without a nest of pillows and blankets,” he said when he noticed her watching him. She laughed slightly before helping him. Before long they were sat comfortably leaning against the mounds of pillows that were against the headboard of the large bed and were wrapped up in blankets. Neil turned the TV on and they flicked through the channels until they found one that had all the hunger games films on back to back.

“Thank you,” Claire said suddenly, he looked over to her.

“It’s my pleasure,” he replied, smiling at her before they went back to watching the film.

Neil wasn’t sure when he had fallen asleep, he was just aware of waking up with a warm body leaning against him and dark curly hair tickling his neck. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at the time. They still had a couple of hours before they had to meet the others, he considered just going back to sleep but realised how bad it’d look if any of the others caught him leaving a residents room early in the morning. He carefully moved Claire off of him, laying her carefully next to him and pulling up the blanket that was now hanging off the side of the bed. As he placed the fabric over her he noticed a stray curl of her hair across her face, he pushed it behind her ear before he realised what he was doing. He quickly turned to leave but stopped when he heard a voice.

“Are you sneaking out of my room during the early hours of the morning Dr Melendez?” Claire’s sleepy voice filled his ears. He chuckled before turning around.

“Sorry, I was trying not to wake you,” he said, Claire opened her eyes and looked up at him, his hair was sticking out in places and she giggled at that, “what?” Neil asked, amusement in his eyes.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen the Neil Melendez with a single hair out of place before,” she teased. He ran a hand through his hair and let out a small laugh.

“Well believe it or not it does take a little bit of effort to look this good,” he replied.

“Really, I thought you just rolled out of bed looking like a male model,” she shot back. He wasn’t sure how to reply to this, if he didn’t know her better he’d think that she was flirting with him. Claire sat up in the bed and dragged him out of his thoughts, “thanks again for last night,” she said.

“It was no trouble,” he told her, “honestly, don’t hesitate to call me if you need someone,” she smiled at him, “and I quite enjoyed having a movie marathon, even if you did start snoring half way through it,” Claire threw one of the pillows at him and he laughed.

“You actually fell asleep before me,” she said, “I didn’t have the heart to wake you up for the second time in one night,” Neil smirked before looking down at the floor.

“I should probably head back to my room,” he said, he looked up at her and thought he saw disappointment flash through her eyes, “if any of the others catch me sneaking out of a residents room in the morning then I’ll be having to have a very awkward conversation with Glassman and Lim.”

“I can imagine,” she chuckled, “I’ll see you later.”

“See you later,” he said back before heading out the door. 

They had 2 sessions that morning, it was the last day of the conference so they didn’t have any afternoon sessions so people could catch planes and be home the same day. They all grabbed lunch together before heading back to the hotel to pack, once they were all ready they went to the airport and within a couple of hours they were on a plane back to San Jose. They managed to all be able to sit together on the way back so they had to deal with Morgan and Alex winding each other up before getting bored and trying to tease Shaun or Claire.

“Shame you didn’t come out with us last night Claire,” Morgan said, “there were so many hot guys at the club, you could have found yourself with one in your bed this morning,” Claire rolled her eyes and tried to ignore the other resident, “they was this really cute guy, I almost got his number but I think he was more into brunettes so you could have had a shot.”

“For all you know Morgan, I could’ve had a man in my bed last night,” Claire shot back, Morgan raised an eyebrow at her, “he snuck out quite early though,” she shrugged, Neil was holding his breathe at this point as he heard the two woman talking, they were just across the aisle from him, the only person between him and Claire was a sleeping Audrey Lim.

“Alright, I get it, you don’t want to hear about the hot guys at the club, you missed out and you regret it now, that’s fine,” Morgan said, “you didn’t need to make up a story about having a mystery man in your bed.”

“You got me, I’m just devastated I missed out on all the eligible bachelors you were flirting with last night,” Claire replied sarcastically before grabbing headphones out of her pocket and putting them in her ears. 

“Well you’re no fun,” Morgan muttered and turned to tease Shaun about his relationship with Lea. Neil looked over to where Claire was sitting and saw her look over to him, their eyes met and she smirked before winking at him. His heart started racing, he knew she was just messing with him but it was affecting him more than he’d like to admit. Claire chuckled slightly when she saw how red his face was before turning to look at her phone. He leant his head back against the chair and breathed deeply. 

‘What are you getting yourself into Neil?’ He thought to himself.


	5. Chapter 5

The next day, Neil walked into the residents lounge as his shift was ending, he was looking down at his tablet as he walked through the room, it wasn’t until he picked something up off the table and turned around that he saw Claire curled up asleep on the couch with a notebook dangerously close to falling of the edge, he smiled at the scans and test results scattered across the coffee table. Claire and Shaun were helping Andrews with a particularly difficult case that day and he guessed that Shaun had gone home to see Lea, leaving her to do more research. He walked over to where she was asleep and picked up the notebook, he sat down on the chair next to her and looked through what she had written before glancing over the scans.

He’d been looking over her case, making some notes of his own, when Claire suddenly sat up, eyes wide and panting. He dropped what he was holding and moved closer to her, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. She grabbed his arm tightly and looked at him.

“Hey, it’s alright, you’re safe Claire,” Neil assured her softly, “it was just a bad dream, you’re okay,” her breathing calmed down slightly and she blinked a few times before registering where she was. Her grip on his arm loosened and he gave her shoulder a small squeeze.

“Sorry,” she whispered.

“You have nothing to be sorry for, these dreams are really getting bad aren’t they?” He asked.

“Yeah,” she replied quietly, she cleared her throat before speaking again, “they keep getting worse, sometimes it feels like I’m going to be stuck in them forever.”

“Have you seen your therapist yet?”

“Yeah, I saw her this morning, she wants me to keep track of how much sleep I get and how often the nightmares occur, she said that if they keep getting worse and more frequent then she can put me on medication to help me sleep,” she looked down at her hands, “yet another thing to start taking because my heads so messed up.”

“Everyone has their problems Claire and everyone needs help sometimes, I have, I’ve spoken to therapists before, after my sisters accident when I was young my parents made me see someone who helped me see that she wasn’t going to magically get better and really helped me to deal with that, I’ve been on medication to help me sleep after a particularly difficult case left me with sleepless nights, you’re not weak for seeking help,” he smiled at her as she looked up at him, “if anything, I’d say you’re stronger than most people I know for acknowledging when you need help.”

“That’s nice of you to say,” she replied, looking down at her hands again.

“I mean it Claire, you’re strong and you can push through this, and I will be there every step of the way if you need me to be,” he told her, “now, you should probably go home and try to get some sleep.”

“I’ve still got to figure this out,” she gestured at the mess of paperwork on the coffee table.

“No you don’t,” he replied, picking up the notebook and handing it to her, “you were on the right track, but if you go in here,” he picked up one of the scans and pointed at it, “you can get to the tumour with the least amount of damage, there’s still a chance of the patient leaving with a disability but it’s not as risky as what you guys were considering doing,” Claire looked at the notes and the scan before a smile creeped across her face.

“You’re right,” she said.

“I usually am,” he shrugged, causing her to roll her eyes while she tried not to laugh, “now, home time,” he said handing her coat to her, “I’ll give you a lift, you look exhausted.”

“I feel it,” she mumbled. They both left the hospital and Neil drove Claire to her apartment, she thanked him as she got out of the car.

“Claire!” He called as she was about to shut the door, she looked over to him, “call me if you need anything, even if it’s just someone to talk to,” she smiled slightly at him.

“I will,” she replied, “goodnight,” she shut the door and headed inside.

“Goodnight,” Neil said quietly as he watched her go inside.

Neil had been asleep for a few hours when he got a phone call, he looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Claire.

“Hey, everything alright?” He asked.

“Yeah,” she replied but her voice was shaky. Neil sat up in his bed.

“The nightmares again?” He asked.

“Yeah,” she repeated, he could hear her trying to control her breathing.

“Do you want me to come over? We could have another movie marathon,” he suggested.

“No that’s alright, I just needed to talk to someone,” she breathed a few more times before she let out a sob, “God, there’s so much wrong with me,” she cried.

“Hey, that’s not true Claire, you’re just going through a tough time right now,” he assured her, “there are so many things that you are brilliant at, you’re an incredible surgeon, you are great with others, always trying to help others, I’ve never heard you play guitar but if you’re as good at that as everything else then I’m sure you’re amazing at it, your bowling could be improved but hey no ones perfect,” Claire laughed at his last comment, “you truly are a wonderful person Claire, there is nothing wrong with you.”

“Thank you,” she said quietly, she didn’t speak for a moment and Neil thought she might have ended the call until she spoke again, “is that offer of another movie marathon still an option?” Neil chuckled.

“On one condition,” he said, “I get to show up in my pyjamas and can bring popcorn if you don’t have any.”

“Hang on,” she said and he heard her moving around her apartment, he heard a cupboard door open and close before she spoke, “you’re in luck, I have popcorn, you just need to bring yourself.”

“I’ll be there in 10,” he said before hanging up.

Neil knocked on the door to Claire’s apartment and she quickly opened it, she looked him up and down, smirking at his Star Wars pyjama trousers.

“Loving the nerd pants,” she chuckled.

“What, they’re comfy,” he shrugged, she let him in and they headed over to her couch which she had set up with pillows and blankets.

“Couldn’t disappoint you after the last movie night,” she said and he smiled at this before they both sat down, Claire grabbed the bowl of popcorn that she’d put on her coffee table, and sat it between them, “I guess there’s only one movie franchise that would do for tonight,” she told him as she picked up the remote and flicked through the list of films, before stopping on the first Star Wars film. Neil laughed as he took a handful of popcorn.

They finished watching the first film and moved on to the second, eventually finishing the popcorn and Neil placed the bowl back on the table. When he leant back he put his arm across the back of the couch.

“Are you trying to be like every teen boy on his first date to the movies?” Claire asked him, he looked at her with an eyebrow raised, “if you wanted to cuddle Neil, all you have to do is ask,” she teased, Neil chuckled at this.

“Damn, I thought I was being smooth,” he replied, semi joking.

“It’s alright, I get it, I’m just irresistible, I understand why you’re struggling to keep your hands to yourself,” she joked.

“Well yesterday you said I looked like a male model, so who thinks who is irresistible?”

“I was half asleep,” she defended herself, smacking his side lightly.

“And now I guess you can’t keep your hands to yourself,” he quipped.

“You’re impossible,” she muttered under her breath.

“What did you say? I’m irresistible?” He teased.

“Yeah that’s exactly what I said,” she replied looking him in the eye. He stared into her eyes and his breath caught in his throat as he saw the desire in them. He swallowed hard and his eyes dropped to her lips before he looked back up into her eyes which were watching him intensely. He found himself drifting closer to her, unable to stop himself, it was like she had her own gravitational force pulling him towards her, he lifted his hand and placed it against the side of her neck, his thumb stroking her cheek lightly, he could feel her rapid pulse against his palm and was sure that his was beating just as fast, he leant even closer until their foreheads were practically touching.

“Is this okay?” He asked her softly, instead of answering him she closed the gap between them, the kiss was passionate and full of lust, it was both desperate and gentle at the same time. Claire put her arms around the back of his neck and pulled them closer together and his hands dropped down to her waist, he grabbed her gently, pulling her onto his lap, he moved his hands to rub at the bare skin of her back from where her t-shirt had ridden up, her skin felt like fire against his hands and he found it addictive, especially when mixed with the feel of her soft lips on his. Neither of them wanted to pull away from the kiss but they felt like it would be difficult to explain to the other doctors how either of them ended up passing out from lack of oxygen. When they separated, Claire leant her forehead against his and laughed slightly.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that for,” she said, completely out of breath.

“Probably not as long as I have,” he panted back, Claire gave him another quick kiss before sitting back in his lap.

“So you admit I’m the irresistible one then?” She joked.

“You are,” he replied, moving a piece of her hair out of her face and behind her ear, “you’re absolutely beautiful,” he stroked his hand down the side of her face and she blushed, “so, can I cuddle you?” He asked. She smiled at him.

“Of course,” she said, she moved so that she was sitting across his lap, he had one of his arms around her back, his hand against her waist, the other was across her legs, she placed her head on his shoulder and rested a hand on his chest. This was how they stayed until they fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Claire woke up that morning slightly achy from the awkward position she’d fallen asleep in. She looked at Neil who was still asleep, his head leaning back on the couch and his arms around her. She smiled at him before placing a hand on his cheek and leaning forwards to kiss him, he stirred and slowly woke up, once he realised what was going on he held her tighter and kissed her back. 

“I’d love to be woken up like this every morning,” he told her, voice low having just woken up.

“Me too, except next time in a bed because this couch is not comfortable,” she laughed, Neil rubbed his neck.

“Yeah, I’ve got to agree with you there,” he placed his arms back around her and looked her in the eye, “so there’s going to be a next time,” he smiled.

“Of course,” she replied, kissing him gently again. Before they could get too into the kiss, the alarm on her phone went off, “guess we’ll have to finish this later,” she winked at him before getting off of his lap, he grinned at her before standing up as well.

“You’ll have to get ready quickly,” he said as she walked into her kitchen and put some coffee on, “you left your car at the hospital, which means I’ll need to drive you there, but we’ll need to stop and my place first because I don’t think doctor Lim would be too impressed if I showed up to work in pyjamas,” Claire came back into the living room and place her arms over his shoulders, he instinctively wrapped his around her waist.

“But with how good you look in them, I don’t see why anyone would complain,” she told him, he looked down at her, a small smile on his face.

“I’d rather leave this look for you to see,” he said back, before kissing her, they broke apart for air and he decided to kiss along her neck and slightly exposed collarbone.

“I won’t be able to get ready quickly if you keep doing that Neil,” she breathed in his ear.

“Alright, but as soon as we finish work, I am taking you back to mine, cooking you dinner and then we will make out like a couple of teenagers until you get sick of me,” he grinned, letting her go.

“I could never get sick of you,” she replied before heading to her bathroom to shower. Neil looked through her fridge as she was showering, grabbing a tray of eggs out, he started cooking them and placed some bread in the toaster. He then poured them both coffee and set everything onto the table, “something smells good out here,” Claire said as she walked into the kitchen, towel drying her hair.

“I made breakfast,” Neil replied.

“I thought we were on a timer,” Claire teased.

“I’ll make sure to be quick when we get to mine,” he shot back.

“I could definitely get used to this,” Claire said, taking a mouthful of eggs. Neil sat next to her and they ate quickly before heading out to his car.

They drove to Neil’s and he invited her in while he showed and got changed. Claire looked around his house, she’d been there before but it felt different being there after their revelation last night, she sat down on his couch and a few minutes later he walked into the room, doing up the buttons on his shirt. She stood up and walked over to him.

“Do you wear your shirts like that for comfort or because you just look so damn good like that?” She asked, running her hands down the front of his shirt.

“You keep teasing me like this Dr Browne and we will both be very late for work,” he replied looking her up and down, Claire smirked before stepping back slightly.

“Well then Dr Melendez, we better get going,” she said, before heading to the door. Neil’s eyes followed her and he swallowed hard as he realised he was going to have to control himself when they got to work.

Claire got out of Neil’s car at the front of the hospital and he drove it around to a parking spot, they were trying not to walk into the building together otherwise people would talk. They didn’t count on Morgan to be walking towards the entrance when she got out of the car though.

“What’s all that about?” The blonde asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Dr Melendez gave me a lift,” Claire stated simply.

“Something wrong with your car?” Morgan questioned her, “or are you two subtly telling everyone something?”

“I was exhausted last night, Dr Melendez offered me a lift home and then gave me a lift here because I left my car here, any other questions?” Claire asked.

“No, I was just curious, no need to be so touchy,” the taller surgeon said, Claire rolled her eyes and headed into the locker room, “shame, I thought you two would make a cute couple,” Morgan teased.

“Who would?” Alex asked as he came into the locker room, Shaun just behind him.

“Claire and Melendez,” Morgan answered.

“They are very compatible,” Shaun agreed. Claire huffed.

“He gave me a lift this morning so now Morgan’s convinced there’s something going on,” Claire clarified, “and anyway, weren’t you the one who made the complaint about us?”

“That was months ago,” Morgan replied, “I needed the advantage then but now that my hands are better I don’t, so now I’m just going to tease you about your relationship with him.”

“There is no relationship,” Claire lied, “now if you guys have stopped with the 20 questions I would like to get changed and start working,” the others grumbled under their breaths and reluctantly got changed.

‘This was going to be a long day,’ Claire thought to herself.


	7. Chapter 7

“Hello Dr Browne,” Neil said as Claire stepped into the elevator standing just in front of him, it was halfway through the day and she’d spent most of the morning listening to Morgan trying to wind her up.

“Hello Dr Melendez,” she replied as the doors shut. That felt the elevator start moving and Neil took a couple of steps forward so he was practically against her back.

“I’ve been thinking about you all day,” he whispered into her ear, causing her to shiver.

“Well I’ve been listening to Morgan telling me that we should get together all day,” Claire retorted.

“What you and Morgan?” Neil questioned and Claire laughed.

“No me and you,” she turned around so she was facing him and realised just how close he was.

“Well I must say, I agree with her,” he winked at her before leaning forward to capture her lips. She melted into him before remembering where they were and pulling away.

“We can’t do that here,” she told him.

“Why not there’s no camera’s?” He replied.

“Because there are already rumours going around because you gave me a lift this morning,” Claire replied, “I’m pretty sure if anyone caught us making out in the elevator then it would be more than just some rumours that we’ll have to deal with.”

“Shame,” Neil said, brushing some of her hair behind her ear. They jumped when they heard the ding signalling that the doors would be opening, they quickly separated as the metal separated in front of them and Morgan stepped on.

“Claire,” Morgan greeted, “Melendez,” she smirked when she saw they were both on the elevator together and stood at the opposite side of the elevator to Claire.

“Dr Reznick,” Neil replied, “I hear you two have a fairly interesting case with Dr Lim.”

“Yes, it is quite interesting,” she agreed, “I had definitely been an interesting morning,” she looked over to Claire when she said this and the smaller woman rolled her eyes. The elevator dinged again and she and Claire stepped off.

“See you later Dr Melendez,” Morgan said cheerily. Claire just looked at him as he gave her an amused look, “did I disturb anything there?” The blonde asked as they walked to their patients room.

“There is nothing going on Morgan,” Claire insisted.

“Well there should be,” Morgan stated, stepping into their patients room before Claire could reply.

“I hear you and Claire arrived together this morning,” Audrey said to Neil as she poured herself a coffee in the break room.

“You’re not starting this too are you?” He shot back.

“I have heard a few rumours,” she replied.

“I gave a resident a lift into work because she left her car here yesterday,” he said, “am I not allowed to help a work colleague?”

“You are,” Audrey stated, “I was just saying that I heard people mentioning it and was just making conversation.”

“No you’re trying to find out if there’s anything inappropriate going on between me and Claire,” Neil said.

“Is there?” She asked casually.

“Yeah, I stayed at her place last night and we spent the early hours of this morning making out, it’s why we drove in together this morning,” he answered, “is that what you want to hear?”

“I was just asking a question Neil, there’s no need to be so defensive,” Audrey replied.

“I’m not getting defensive, I’m just fed up of the questions, I thought we’d already established that Morgan’s complaint was because she felt her job was in jeopardy,” he said.

“We did, but I’m not sure if there may be some truth behind it,” he stared at her, “but if you say there isn’t then I believe you,” she said, “but like I said before, you do have an issue Neil.”

“The only issue I have is people not being able to mind their own business,” he grumbled.

“As your boss it’s my job to ask you questions about this,” she stated, “but as your friend, it’s my job to tell you that if anything were to happen, not saying it will,” she added when he went to cut in, “then I’ll support you and try to help you out as best as I can.”

“Bit of a change of heart from the last time we had a conversation like this,” he said.

“Well, last time I think I was still slightly jealous,” Neil raised an eyebrow at her, “but I will deny I ever told you that,” she told him and he laughed, “anyway I’ve got a consult now, I’ll catch you later,” she walked away and w stood there looking down at his coffee.

Neil walked into the residents lounge that afternoon, seeing only Claire in there he went over to where she was sat at the table, he put his hand on the back of her chair and leant forward as if helping her with something.

“So what do you fancy for dinner?” He asked quietly.

“We shouldn’t be discussing it here,” she replied, typing something on her laptop.

“There’s no one around, and if anyone sees us it just looks like an attending helping his resident,” he said.

“I’m happy to have whatever you want,” she told him and he smiled.

“Then I’ll have to surprise you with some fancy candle lit dinner, then afterwards we can cuddle on my couch and watch the half of the Star Wars movie that we missed last night,” he said, “although with how much I’ve wanted to kiss you all day, we might not be paying much attention,” he whispered in her ear.

“Neil,” Claire breathed, having to stop herself from turning around and kissing him right there, “you keep up with that and we might end up having to visit HR by the end of the day,” Neil grinned before standing up and heading to his office. Claire smiled to herself and went back to typing

Morgan, Alex and Shaun were about to enter the lounge when they saw their attending and their fellow resident inside. 

“Hang on,” Morgan said, stopping the other two from entering, they watched as Neil walked away with a grin on his face and noticed that Claire was smiling to herself, “I wish those two would just get together already, they obviously like each other.”

“It would severely affect both of their jobs, do you really think they would risk it?” Alex asked.

“It wouldn’t affect them much if Dr Lim took Claire off of Dr Melendez’s service,” Shaun answered him.

“Anyone up for playing Cupid?” Morgan asked.

“No, Morgan, stay out of it,” Alex replied.

“What? You don’t think there should be something going on there?” She questioned him.

“I think it’s not my place to say,” he responded, she gave him a look and he sighed, “fine I’ll help out but I still think this is a bad idea.”

“You’re helping, that’s all I needed,” she smiled before turning to Shaun, “you in Shaun?” She asked.

“Okay,” Shaun agreed.

“Good, but you can’t tell them that we’re doing this, got it?” She said.

“Got it,” Shaun replied, Morgan nodded in satisfaction before heading into the lounge.


	8. Chapter 8

Claire walked up to Neil’s front door that evening, she rang the bell and seconds later he answered it. She was immediately hit by an incredible smell that she assumed was coming from his kitchen.

“Hey,” he greeted her.

“Hey,” she replied, stepping in as he opened the door further, “something smells good in here.”

“That would be my Abuela’s secret chilli recipe, I thought for our first official date I should really cook you something that means something to me,” he told her.

“You’re such a romantic,” she grinned, playfully smacking his arm.

“You haven’t seen anything yet,” he replied, leading her to the table that he’d set up with candles and wine glasses, music softly playing in the background. She looked at him and he smirked before pulling her chair out for her.

“Really going all out tonight,” she said.

“Of course,” he laughed before grabbing her hand, kissing it and leading her over to her chair where she sat down. He headed over to his kitchen and minutes later he came back out with two plates, setting them down on the table, he then picked up the bottle of wine that was placed nearby. He opened the bottle and filled her glass before filling his own and taking his place in his seat.

“This is incredible,” she said after the first mouthful causing Neil to give her that smile that made the butterflies in her stomach flutter.

“I’m glad you think so,” he replied, “I can teach you how to make it one day if you’d like?”

“No, I’m an awful cook, it’d be best if you just kept making me food,” Neil laughed at this.

“I’m sure I could do that,” they finished eating and Neil took their plates back into the kitchen. When he came back out he poured them both more wine and they sat at the table holding each other’s hand.

“So how was your day?” Claire asked him.

“Interesting,” he replied, “you?”

“The same,” she grinned, “Morgan would not stop teasing me about you.”

“I reckon if she caught us in that elevator she’d have died of excitement,” Neil joked.

“Honestly, she really wants us to be together, which is strange after she made that complaint,” Claire said.

“I’m just glad that there are people at work who’d support us,” he replied, rubbing small circles on the back of her hand with his thumb, “Audrey spoke to me today,” Claire looked at him slightly concerned but she relaxed when he smiled at her, “she said she heard a lot of rumours about us, she also said that as my friend she’d support us and help us out with work as much as she could.”

“Really?” Claire asked, surprised, “does she know there’s something going on?”

“She suspects, but I haven’t confirmed it to her,” he looked into her eyes, “would you like me to?” Claire thought for a moment.

“Not yet,” she said eventually, “I just want us to have a bit of time with just us before we tell everyone.”

“That sounds like a great plan to me,” Neil responds, they hear the music change to a song that they both like and Claire giggled as Neil stood up and asked her to dance.

“You really are a hopeless romantic,” Claire said in fake annoyance but Neil could tell by the grin on her face that she was loving it.

“I reckon you’re a secret romantic,” he said, looking down into her eyes as he held her close, “you act like romance is annoying but you love it really.”

“I must say, if the romance is coming from you then I could get used to it,” Neil laughed as she said this before leaning down to kiss her. When they broke apart Claire rested her head against his chest as they swayed to the music.

”So you up for watching the last half of that Star Wars movie?” He asked her as the song ended.

”Okay,” she replied, Neil sat down on one side of the couch and Claire curled up into his side as they watched the film. Once it was finished Neil led Claire up to his bedroom, he went into the bathroom to get changed and give her some privacy, when he came back out she chuckled at him, “Batman pyjamas?” She asked and he looked down at his pants.

”What?” He questioned, a large smile on his face, Claire stepped towards him and grinned as she wrapped her arms around him and looked into his eyes.

”Nothing, just amused that the very professional Dr Neil Melendez wears nerd pants to bed,” he laughed when she said this.

“Well you better get used to the sight because I have many, many, pairs of nerd pants,” he replied before giving her a quick kiss, “do you have any preference to which side of the bed you like to sleep?” He asked.

“I’m good with whichever,” she said, they pulled apart and headed to opposite sides of the bed before getting in, as soon as Claire got comfortable, Neil wrapped an arm around her and pulled her against him before they drifted to sleep.

That was the first night in the past couple of weeks that she didn’t have a nightmare.


	9. Chapter 9

“You need to swap cases with her,” Morgan whispered to Park as they were walking out of the residents lounge, Claire and Shaun walking a little way in front of them.

“Not a chance,” Park replied quietly.

“I thought you said you’d help get them together,” she said back.

“Yeah, I said I’d help, I didn’t say I’d swap a perfectly good case to do so,” he shot back.

“Just think, you swap these cases then you get to work with me all day,” she smiled at him but soon frowned when that attempt didn’t work, “the surgery that we have will finish earlier than yours, you’ll be able to get out early.”

“You’re not going to leave me alone until I agree are you?”

“Nope.”

“Fine,” Alex sighed, “hey Claire!” He called to the younger surgeon, she turned and looked at him.

“Yeah?” She replied.

“Would you be able to swap cases with me?” He asked, “Kellan’s coming into town tonight and I was hoping to pick him up from the airport, your surgery is earlier than mine so I was hoping you’d be able to swap,” Claire raised an eyebrow before taking the case file from him and looking it over.

“Okay,” she answered eventually.

“Thank you, it means a lot,” he said before he and Morgan headed off to find Andrews.

“Nicely done,” Morgan said.

“You owe me,” he replied. 

“I thought I had Park today,” Neil said as he saw Claire walking towards him with Shaun. 

“He asked to swap, something about seeing Kellan tonight,” she replied.

“I thought Kellan was coming next weekend,” Neil commented.

“So did I,” Claire replied.

“I should go check on the patient,” Shaun said, quickly heading into the room.

“He knows something we don’t,” Neil commented.

“They’ve all been acting strange,” Claire told him, “Morgan hasn’t mentioned a single thing about us today, which is strange after how she was yesterday.” 

“Oh well, I’m not complaining, about Morgan leaving you alone or about Alex swapping,” the older man said. 

“Me neither,” Claire replied, “this case is so much more interesting.”

“That the only reason is it?” He asked before giving her a cheeky grin and also heading into their patients room. 

Claire placed her tray down on the table that Morgan, Shaun and Alex were sitting at. They were deep in conversation but stopped when she got there.

”Am I disrupting something?” She asked them.

”No,” they all replied quickly.

”Really because it seems like you guys were talking and as soon as I got here you stopped,” they all looked at each other, not knowing what to say, “you know what, I’m just gonna go eat in the residents lounge,” she grabbed her try and started walking away.

”Claire!” Morgan called after her but she just kept walking. When she got to the lounge she sat at the table and pulled out the case file for their patient, going over the details before their surgery.

”Everything alright?” Neil asked her, coming out of his office and heading over to the table.

”Yeah, great,” she replied, unenthusiastically.

”Doesn’t sound like it,” he said.

”The others are all being weird today,” she said.

”I thought we’d already established that,” Neil replied.

”Yeah but I just went to sit with them to eat my lunch and as soon as I got there they started being weird again and stopped whatever conversation they were having, so I’m guessing it was about me,” she sighed, “I don’t know what’s going on with them but I will lose it with them if they keep being like this.”

”Well,” Neil said, “you can eat lunch in here with me, which I can assure you is a lot better,” he grabbed a fry off of her plate and placed it in his mouth.

”Not if you keep stealing my food,” she replied, Neil just stole another one and she laughed at him, “I’ll let you off but only because you made such a wonderful dinner last night.”

”See I’m not just a pretty face,” he teased.

”You’re right, you’re not, you’re also a massive nerd,” she joked.

”You will be too after I get you to watch all of the Star Trek movies,” he replied, she grinned at him.

”Can’t wait,” she smiled. He looked at her as though she was the most important thing in his life and she blushed slightly under his gaze.

”I wish we weren’t at work right now,” he moved his hand towards hers, lightly brushing against it, “because I really want to kiss you right now,” he half whispered this last part and she giggled slightly.

”Well, how about you come to my apartment tonight, we can order takeout and you can introduce me to the wonderful world of Star Trek,” Neil chuckled at this.

”Sounds like a plan,” he replied, “do I need to stop at my place first and pack a bag?”

”If you want to,” she said and he grinned. Before he could say anything else Andrews walked through the door, Neil immediately moved his hand away from Claire’s, pleased that Marcus seemed too focused on his tablet to notice them. The older man took a sip of the coffee in his hand before looking up.

”Afternoon,” he greeted them, “I hear you stole one of my residents today Dr Melendez.”

”I was just about to say the same to you Dr Andrews,” Neil replied and Marcus chuckled.

“Your surgery’s a very interesting one I can see why Dr Browne would want to swap,” he said.

”I didn’t ask to swap,” Claire told him, “Dr Park did,” Marcus raised an eyebrow at this.

”That’s very unlike Park,” he said.

”Yeah, we know,” Neil replied.

”Oh well, whatever his reasons they’re probably good ones, he wouldn’t give up on a good surgery easily,” Marcus walked into his office leaving Neil and Claire to discuss their case. Marcus sat down at his desk and picked up his phone, he typed in number and placed it to his ear, “Dr Lim,” he greeted her, “I think we need to keep an eye on the residents, seems they are trying to play matchmaker,” he looked over at Neil and Claire through the glass who were laughing about something, “it may even be working,” he added.

”I assume you’re referring to Dr’s Reznick and Park?” She asked.

”Possibly Murphy too,” he said.

”Yeah, I have heard word that they seem to be swapping cases, Morgan’s asked me if she can be on your service next week, it was supposed to be Browne and Murphy, she seemed to insist I swap her with Claire and not Shaun.”

”What do you want to do about it?” He asked.

”Nothing yet, but if this carries on then I’ll have to step in, I can’t have residents continually swapping, I’m also kind of curious as to what their plans are,” Lim chuckled.

”You don’t have a problem with them trying to set up an attending with a resident?”   
  


“A little bit, but I think that if I tried to get in between them again then I’d lose one or both of them, they’d put their friendship, or whatever it is that they’re trying to pretend they’re not, first, I’m sure of it,” she answered, “plus they both seem a lot happier than they have in the past year.”

”Will we need to have them working separately?” He questioned.

”Not right now, I don’t have any proof that anything is happening, if they are together and they tell us this then I will have to place Claire with the two of us but for now I’ll leave them be,” Audrey replied.

”I hope you know what you’re doing,” Marcus said.

”I do,” Audrey stated before they hung up.

Claire woke up that night with tears running down her face, her breathing was erratic and she was shaking violently. She felt strong but comforting arms wrap around her and she immediately felt safer. She leaned into the embrace, hearing the comforting words that Neil was saying in her ear and soon she had calmed down slightly, she wiped at the tears in her eyes and sat up. She felt Neil move next to her and she looked over at him.

”Sorry,” she muttered.

”You’ve got nothing to feel sorry for,” he replied, wrapping an arm around her, “want to talk about it?” He asked. She shook her head.

”Can you just hold me?”   
  


“Of course,” he replied, they laid back down on the bed and Claire rested her head on his chest. Neil stroked calming circles on her back as he placed his other arm around her. Claire thought about the night that they’d had and felt sad that this had to ruin it.

After their surgery they both left the hospital, Claire headed straight to her apartment and ordered their food while Neil made a stop at his to pick up some clothes, they spent the night watching Star Trek, which she found she actually liked, before heading to bed, she’d teased him about his iron man pyjama pants and he’d made a joke about saving his best pyjamas for her to see. It had been a simple night but it was perfect for them, it felt comfortable and relaxed she knew it was too good to be true when she fell asleep easily that night after having the night before uninterrupted by nightmares. She sighed against Neil’s chest as she traced the outline of his tattoo. She was definitely going to speak to her therapist tomorrow.


	10. Chapter 10

In the next few weeks, Neil and Claire had noticed that the residents weird behaviour was only getting weirder. They kept swapping cases, they’d ask Neil to come sit with them when they’d see him in the cafeteria but then make excuses as to where they had to be, leaving just the two of them. They weren’t the only ones who had noticed which is how the three matchmakers found themselves in Lim’s office one morning. The older woman looked at the three of them, standing in front of her desk with her arms crossed, studying them all.

”So none of you are going to tell me why you have suddenly decided to play musical chairs with the cases?” She continued to watch them but none of them spoke, “well I am fully aware of what you are doing,” they all looked at her in shock, “you haven’t exactly been subtle and I’d be surprised if they hadn’t noticed yet,” the three residents looked at each other before Alex spoke.

“Can I just say I didn’t want to be part of this and that Morgan dragged me into it,” he told their chief of surgery.

“That doesn’t matter, you were still involved,” she retorted, she walked around her desk and sat down, “I get the cause, but your methods aren’t working very well and are frankly pathetic,” they all looked at her in shock, “you can’t force two people to admit their feelings to each other by forcing them to spend time together, you’ve got to be creative,” they still stared at her with bewildered looks on their faces, she chuckled at them, “anyway, no more swapping cases, it will start affecting everybody’s education if you continue this.”

”So we’re not in trouble for trying to set Dr Melendez up with Claire?” Shaun asked, Audrey laughed.

”No, I agree with you, they have feelings for each other and are idiots for not admiring that, but I will not have your scheme affecting your work, as I clear?” They all nodded, “you can go now,” they all got up and left leaving Audrey chuckling to herself at their still shocked faces.

”Coffee?” Neil asked as he walked into the residents lounge, holding two paper cups.

”Yes, thank you so much,” Claire replied, taking one off of him.

”I’ve noticed you’re stressing about this case, and I know you were up in the middle of the night working on it,” she rolled her eyes at him.

”I was trying not to wake you up,” she replied and he smiled.

”I’m glad I did wake up, I got to watch your brilliant mind at work,” Claire blushed slightly.

”So what you’re saying is you were watching me while I was unaware?”

”When you put it like that it sounds bad,” he chuckled causing a small laugh to come out of the young woman, “I’m just glad the nightmares seem to have calmed down and the only thing keeping you up at night is work.”

”Yeah, I think seeing my therapist almost everyday for the past three weeks has had its benefits,” she replied, “I’m just glad I didn’t need any medication.”

”Sometimes just being able to talk things out with someone helps,” he said, Claire nodded, “well, tonight we’ll make sure we get a good nights sleep, no sneaking out of bed to research anything.”

”Okay,” she chuckled, “I really do appreciate the coffee.”

”I knew you would,” Neil said smugly.

”Arrogant as ever,” she joked and he faked being hurt by her words, they were laughing to themselves when the other residents joined them.

”Where have you all been? Rounds should have started 10 minutes ago,” Neil questioned them.

”Dr Lim wanted to speak to us,” Morgan replied.

”Just you three?” Claire asked.

”Yes,” Shaun said, “just us three.”

”What was it about?” Neil asked.

”Nothing important,” Alex answered quickly when he saw Shaun open his mouth. Neil raised his eyebrow at them but let it drop.   
  


“Well now that you’re all here, it’s time to get started,’ Neil told them and they sat down.

Neil had just finished a surgery with Claire and Shaun she he walked into his office, he went over to his desk and was about to sit down when he saw a bottle of scotch on his desk. He picked it up and saw a small note attached to it.

_To Neil Melendez_

_From Your Secret Admirer_

He put it back down, slightly confused when he saw Claire walk into the residents lounge. He went over to the door connecting the two rooms.

”Claire,” he called as she arranged some papers on the table, she looked up at him and smiled.

“Hey,” she said, “everything alright?”

”Yeah,” he replied, “Did you leave a bottle of scotch on my desk?” He asked.

”No,” she stated.

”That’s weird, there was a bottle there when I came back from surgery and it says it’s from my secret admirer,” he told her.

”Looks like someone has a crush on you,” she grinned at him.

”Oh God,” he replied and she laughed.

”Maybe it’s one of the nurses, I hear them talking about how hot they think you are,” she teased.

”Is that so?” He chuckled, “and did you agree with them?”

”Absolutely,” she winked at him causing the grin that was already in his face to grow larger. He was about to say something back when a nurse walked in carrying flowers.

”These were dropped off for you Dr Browne,” she said, handing the flowers to the resident before walking out.

”Looks like I’m not the only one with a secret admirer,” Neil grinned looking at the note that came with the bouquet.

”Ironic how we both got a gift from a secret admirer today,” she said, “almost as if someone’s trying to set us up.”

”Someone or some people?” Neil asked, “because they are not subtle at all,” Claire laughed at this, “so when should we let them know that we’ve already been together for weeks?”

”Not yet, I want to see how far this’ll go,” Claire replied, “although they obviously don’t realise that you wouldn’t send me flowers.”

”Of course I wouldn’t, you said it yourself, guys who send flowers are lame,” he stepped closer to her, “I’d just give you the flowers myself instead,” Claire smacked his arm lightly as he teased her, “anyway we better go home, like you said earlier, I need a good nights sleep and I’m not feeling sleepy yet so we may have to wear ourselves out a little bit beforehand,” she told him, looking him up and down as she said this, he tried not to smile too hard before replying.

”Is that so?” He asked, Claire shrugged slightly, biting at her lip, Neil stood next to her at the table, picking up some papers as he stood unbearably close to her, before speaking in a low voice, “guess I’ll see you back at my place very soon,” he stepped back slightly and winked at her before leaving, she watched him as he went grinning to herself before also walking out of the room.


	11. Chapter 11

“We’re going out tonight for drinks, do you want to come?” Morgan asked Claire as she walked into the residents lounge with Alex and Shaun. Claire looked up at the three with an eyebrow raised, wondering what their plan was this time.

”Why?” She questioned.

”Why not?” Morgan shot back. Claire thought for a moment.

”Okay,” she answered warily and Morgan smiled.   
  


“Great, I’ll let you know later where we’ll be meeting,” she said and the residents all sat down around the table.

”I’ve been invited to a night of drinks with the residents,” Marcus said to Audrey when he saw her in the hallway.

”I am aware,” she replied, “I have as well, I’ve been asked if I could convince Neil to come.”

”Why you?” He asked.

”Because they believe I’d have more luck getting him to agree to come if I ask.”

”They should’ve just got Browne to ask him,” Marcus grinned.

”Apparently she isn’t aware the attendings are joining them and we aren’t allowed to tell Neil that we’ll be meeting the residents,” Audrey said giving him a look.

”So this is part of their scheme?” He asked, amused.

”Seems like it,” she replied, “I told them they shouldn’t let this affect their work so instead they’re setting up gifts from secret admirers and forcing them to have drinks together,” Marcus laughed.

”They’re trying hard, I’ll give them that,” he said, “you going to talk to him now?”

”Yeah,” The chief of surgery answered.

”I’ll come with you,” Marcus told her and they headed to Neil’s office.

Neil startled when he heard a knock on the door, he looked up and saw Audrey and Marcus, he waved them in and they walked over to his desk.

”We wanted to see if you wanted to come for drinks tonight,” Lim said.

”Special occasion?” He asked.

”No, just some colleagues going for drinks, why do you ask?” Andrews questioned.

“Because you don’t usually join Dr Lim and I for drinks,” he replied.

”Well I thought I would this time,” he said, Neil looked at them intently before answering.

”Alright,” he told them eventually.

”Great we’ll meet you after the shift,” Audrey smiled and they left.   
  


Neil looked around the cafeteria, scanning the tables until he saw who he was looking for, smiling when he saw her sitting alone reading something off of her tablet. He headed over and sat across from her, she looked up at him and smiled.

”Hey,” Claire greeted him.

”Hey,” he replied smiling back at her, “I’ve been invited to drinks with Lim and Andrews after the shift, so I was wondering if we could stay at yours tonight and I’ll meet you there once I’ve had a drink or two and can escape,” he told her, “I can even bring your favourite takeout with me.”

”Wait, Lim and Andrews invited you to drinks?” She asked.

”Yeah,” he replied, “Why?”

”Because I’ve been invited out to have drinks with the rest of the residents,” she answered him, Neil chuckled and shook his head.

”So this is part of their plan to set us up,” he smirked.

”Looks like it,” Claire replied.

”Why don’t we mess with them a little bit then,” he grinned.

”What did you have in mind?” Claire asked intrigued, Neil explained the plan to her as they ate.

”Where are they?” Morgan asked the group as they sat around the table, minus Claire and Neil.

”I don’t know,” Audrey replied, “Neil said he’d be here any minute.”

”How long ago was that?” Alex asked. Audrey looked at the time on her phone

”20 minutes,” she said, “any idea where Claire is?”

”No, she just said she was held up at the hospital, which is rubbish because I saw her leave around about the time the rest of us did,” Morgan grumbled.

”Maybe they figured out our plan and decided not to come,” Shaun said. Before anyone else could speak Claire and Neil walked in together.

”Sorry we’re late, I had a flat tyre so Dr Melendez offered to give me a lift,” Claire explained as they sat down next to each other, sitting closer than they normally would.

”How did you know he was coming as well, I never mentioned it?” Morgan asked. Claire gave her a look and they all realised they’d been caught.   
  


“I’m going to grab some drinks,” Neil said, standing up, “I see you all have some so I guess it’s just me and you Claire,” he said, smiling fondly at her. She looked up at him, reciprocating the smile he’d given her.

”Thank you, you know what I drink,” she replied.

”Of course I do,” he chuckled, heading to the bar. Everyone was quiet as they watched the scene before them, not quite knowing what to say about how much more friendly the two of them seemed tonight.  
  


”So how is everyone,” Claire asked in an overly nice tone. Shaun was the first to speak.

”I got another goldfish yesterday,” he said, “Lea wanted another one so we got one.”

”That’s nice Shaun,” she smiled, Neil came back over and put her drink in front of her.

”I don’t understand how you can drink those fruity drinks,” he said to her as he sat down.

”Because they’re delicious,” she replied, sipping at the sweet liquid in front of her, “have you ever actually tried one?” She asked him.

”No,” he admitted. She slid the drink over to him.

”Try some,” she said, he picked it up and took a sip.

”Not bad,” he replied, Claire grinned.

”Guess we’re swapping drinks then,” she picked up his glass and took a swig of his beer, Neil took the glass back from her when she’d had some.

”Not a chance,” he chuckled, putting her drink back in her hand. The others watched them before Marcus spoke up.

”Have we missed something?” He asked, Claire and Neil looked at him.

”What do you mean?” Neil questioned as he sat back in his chair and rested his arm along the back of Claire’s chair. Audrey suddenly started laughing slightly.

”I think all your hard work may have been wasted,” she said to the other three residents who looked confused, Marcus started grinning and shaking his head as he realised what was going on “you’ve been trying to make something happen which I’m guessing has been going on for a little while,” she looked up at Claire and Neil who just shrugged and drank their drinks. It suddenly clicked to Morgan and Alex who quickly looked at the two lovers who were smirking at them. Shaun still looked completely confused.

”What’s going on?” He asked.

”Maybe this will clear things up,” Neil said as he lifted a hand to tilt Claire’s face towards him, he leant forwards and slowly kissed her. When they broke apart the others were all staring at them.   
  


“So you guys can stop with the scheming,” Claire told them.

”Wait, how long has this been going on for?” Alex asked.

”Since we came back from the convention,” Neil replied, he sat forwards and grabbed Claire’s hand that was sitting next to her glass, she smiled at him as they linked their fingers together.

”So you two were already together before we started getting involved?” Morgan asked.

”Yep,” Claire answered. The other residents looked shocked but Audrey and Marcus looked unfazed by this revelation.

”We’ll have to have a talk about this in the morning and you’ll need to make a trip to HR,” Lim told them, “but I’m happy for you two,” she smiled at them before raising her glass to them, they leant forwards and the glasses clinked together.   
  


“As are the rest of us I assume,” Marcus added, adding his glass to the ones already in the air, soon followed by Morgan, Alex and Shaun, they all drank their drinks before getting more, they had a couple more rounds before saying their goodbyes and going their separate ways.

Claire and Neil made their way into Claire’s apartment, happy with how the night had gone.

”So all we have to do now is sort things out with HR,” Neil said to his girlfriend. She smiled before coming over to him and placing her arms over his shoulders and linking them behind his neck.

”I’m glad that we don’t have to hide anything from them anymore,” she told him, he leant down and gave her a quick kiss.

”Me too,” he replied, “and the looks on their faces were priceless,” Claire giggled as she remembered it.

”I will never forget how confused they all were at first,” she laughed.

”They honestly thought that we didn’t know what they were doing,” Neil chuckled, before kissing Claire again, “now, I think I should cook us a nice dinner and we can get into our nerd pants and watch some movies,” he told her, thinking about the matching Star Wars pyjamas he’d bought them the week before as a joke but have now turned into their movie night attire.

”Sounds like a plan,” she smiled giving him a quick kiss before they headed into her kitchen.


	12. Chapter 12

“So you two have been together for just over a month?” Audrey asked the two people sat across from her.

“Yes,” Claire replied.

“And how did this all start?”

“Do we really have to get into all this now?” Neil asked, “we’re about to go to HR and tell them all of this.”

”I’m helping prepare you both,” the chief of surgery said, “this isn’t like when we had to go to them Neil, you are Claire’s attending and you need to make sure that you’re telling them the right things so that there’s no misunderstandings.”

“Thanks, I wasn’t nervous enough already,” Claire muttered.

”HR won’t be pleased by this situation, I can tell you that for sure, but myself, Dr Glassman and Dr Andrews have already spoken to them this morning to suggest Dr Andrews become Claire’s primary attending, you two will not be working together and Claire’s education will be distributed between him and myself, as well as Dr Glassman on occasions,” Audrey told them, “so hopefully there won’t be any significant impacts on your jobs besides not working together.”

”Okay,” Neil replied, “and what if they don’t go for that?”

”Then either Claire will be transferred to a completely different attending and placed on different shift times as you, or you will be asked to transfer somewhere else,” Claire and Neil looked at each other as she said this, “that’s worse case though and with the approval of the chief of surgery and the president of the hospital then it should help,” the two nodded, “now, I’ll help you prepare before your meeting and hopefully this will all go well.”

”How was your meeting?” Morgan asked as Claire sat down with the residents in the cafeteria.

”As well as can be expected when you tell HR you’re sleeping with your boss,” she replied, “I was asked many personal questions as they tried to establish if I was forced into this relationship.”

”The only thing trying to force you into that relationship was us,” Morgan laughed.

”Yeah,” Claire chuckled, “Neil’s in with them now so hopefully we find out whether we both get to keep working here when he’s done.”

”Ooh Neil,” Alex teased and she rolled her eyes, “guess we better get used to being on first name terms with him because as we’re your friends and he’s your boyfriend he now officially gets invited out when we all go out,” Claire smiled at their support.

”It will be strange at first, but I’m glad your happy Claire,” Shaun said, giving her a small smile.

”Thank you Shaun,” she replied, “hopefully he can still be your attending after this meeting.”

”You think they could fire him?” Morgan asked.

”It’s a possibility,” Claire sighed, “or transfer him, or transfer me.”

”I’m sure they won’t though,” Alex tried to comfort her.

”Yeah I hope so,” she muttered.

Neil walked into the residents lounge and saw Morgan and Shaun sitting at the table.

”Have either of you seen Claire?” He asked.

”She’s with Park and Andrews, they’re talking to a patient but they should be back soon,” Shaun answered.

”Okay, can you send her to my office when she gets back please,” Neil requested. Morgan turned around in her chair.

”So good news or bad news?” She asked, he had a neutral expression on his face and she couldn’t tell.

”Just send her to my office when she gets back,” he repeated before heading into the adjoining room.

Claire walked into the residents lounge with Alex and Marcus discussing their case when Morgan interrupted them.

”Dr Melendez wants to see you in his office Claire,” she told her.

”Did he say anything about the meeting?” The brunette asked.

”No and I couldn’t work out wether it was good news or not,” Claire looked into his office and saw Neil at his desk filling out paperwork. She walked over and knocked on the door before opening it and stepping in. She could feel the eyes of the others on them as he looked up at her and smiled. 

“How’d it go?” She asked him and he stood up and went over to her.

”Well, I’ve not been fired or transferred,” he assured her, grabbing one of her hands, “and neither have you,” she grinned at him before wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him close. He held her for a second before pulling back, “we have to keep this to a minimum though, we’re going to have eyes on us for a while making sure that our relationship doesn’t affect our work.”

”Shame, if I remember correctly you and Dr Lim were allowed a full on make out session in the ER,” she joked and he cringed.

”Do you have to remind me of that?” Claire laughed and he quickly planted a kiss to her lips, “you can have more when we go to mine later,” he said and she grinned.

”I’ll hold you to that,” she teased.

”I’m sure you will,” he replied, “now you should go get some work done.”

”But from what I can tell you’re no longer my boss,” she said, trying to wind him up.

”I’m still in a position of authority so I can tell you to go back to work.”

”I know,” she winked at him before retreating back into the lounge, leaving him chuckling as he watched her go and fill the others in on the good news.


	13. Chapter 13

Marcus and Audrey walked into Neil’s office as their shifts were finishing. Neil looked up at the two with a raised eyebrow. Audrey walked over, pulling a bottle from her bag and placing it on his desk. Neil smirked at the two of them as he pulled a few glasses out of one of his desk draws. 

“We felt a celebration was needed,” Marcus said, sitting down in one of the chairs on the other side of Neil’s desk as Audrey poured the liquor into the glasses.

”Celebration of Claire and I being able to stay at this hospital or a celebration that you two get to have her brilliance to yourselves here?” The younger man asked.

”Both,” Audrey stated, also sitting down, “to Claire’s brilliance,” she held up her glass and the two men chuckled before repeating her words and clicking their glasses together.

”So all we need to do now is find you a partner Dr Lim,” Marcus said turning towards the woman.

”You two can stay out of my love life,” she replied taking a sip of her drink, “make sure the residents know this as well, I don’t want a repeat of their matchmaking,” all the attendings laughed at the thought.

”Their attempts weren’t bad,” Neil said, “just weren’t necessary.”

”I had to speak to them about their efforts,” Lim told him, “told them they had to be more creative than just switching shifts.”

”So that’s why I suddenly got access to all my residents again,” Neil smirked.

”Speaking of residents,” Marcus said, “I think one of them is trying to not look like she’s waiting for you,” they followed his gaze into the residents lounge where they saw Claire looking through papers, but they could tell she wasn’t actually reading them. Neil smiled fondly at her. 

“Aw, look at him, he’s in love,” Audrey teased when she saw the look on Neil’s face, he rolled his eyes as Andrew’s grinned.

”That feeling will never go away,” he told the younger man, “I still look at Isobel like that whenever I see her,” he smiled fondly to himself, “speaking of, I’m going to go home to that beautiful woman,” he finished his drink and stood up to leave.

”I’m feeling left out, maybe I should get the residents to set me up with someone,” Audrey joked.

”I’m sure we could set them on the right path,” Marcus told her, sharing a mischievous grin with Neil.

”Nope,” Audrey replied, finishing her drink. Marcus laughed before leaving the room, “I’ll leave you to go take your lover home,” Audrey winked at him before leaving. Neil grinned and stood up, he walked through to the residents lounge. Claire looked up at him when she heard the door open.

”Hey, you ready?” She asked.

“I am,” he replied, “you know you didn’t have to sit out here pretending to read, you could have joined us for drinks,” she gave him a look.

”Neil, they’re your friends, I don’t want to intrude on your time together,” she told him.

”You wouldn’t be intruding,” he said, she stood up and got her belongings together, he came over and wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing the back of her neck, “you’re my girlfriend, my friends are your friends now and my time is always better if you’re around,” she smiled and turned in his arms to face him.

”And people say I’m the soft touch,” she grinned.

”You’re obviously just rubbing off on me,” he replied before giving her a kiss, “let’s go home.”

”Okay,” she said, stepping back, and picking up her bag. Neil grabbed her hand and led her out of the hospital. They could feel eyes on them as they walked through the hospital hand in hand, they knew rumours had been spreading since people noticed them both going to HR that morning, but they didn’t care, they were happy together and they didn’t care who saw.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such a short chapter, been having ideas for other fics but also wanted to make sure I was still updating this one so this is shorter than I would have liked.


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